


Black Coffee

by Maiden_of_Asgard



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Flirts, Coffee Shops, F/M, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29478360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maiden_of_Asgard/pseuds/Maiden_of_Asgard
Summary: Bucky stops by Cafe Canaveral on Valentine's Day.{A holiday oneshot spinoff of Cafe Canaveral}.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 44





	Black Coffee

Working on a Sunday sucks. Working on a long weekend sucks worse. Working Valentine’s Day, while all of her friend-slash-coworkers are off on hot dates? That’s the suckiest of all. Rose groans as the portable fan on the counter sputters and threatens to die. Eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and it’s only mid-February.  _ Typical.  _

She figures she only has herself to blame. She did offer to man the espresso machine solo today, and Cafe Canaveral is bustling, so at least she’ll rake in the tips. That graphic design LLC isn’t going to pay for itself. 

Maybe some of the super-secret spy types will come around today. Do superheroes and secret agents celebrate Valentine’s Day? She knows for a fact that Loki does, because Loki celebrating Valentine’s Day is the reason why Rose is down a coworker today. She adds little horns to one of the hearts on the chalkboard behind her. Does Loki even count as a superhero? Has she been to a beach picnic with a supervillain? Probably. Does that make him even cooler? Absolutely.

There are more couples in the cafe than usual. Rose has to admit that she enjoys the people-watching aspect, even if it makes her lament her own dearth of romantic coffee shop interludes. There’s the old local engineer who comes in every workday for a plain black coffee, but today, he’s with his wife, and they’re sharing a red velvet muffin and holding hands and just generally being adorable. There are the teenagers on a first date - or, she assumes it’s a first date, because they’re both super awkward. 

Then, along with all of that, there are the usual suits. Government guys. Guys who wear sunglasses indoors. Guys who never engage in chatter, who barely stop listening to their earpiece long enough to place an order. Rose wonders if Agent Roy will be around today; she’s been able to coax a few words out of him, at least. He’s a decent tipper, and someday, she’s sure she’ll convince him to actually talk about his Avenger-babysitting job. 

She wonders what his LinkedIn profile looks like.  _ ‘Skills: keeping an eye on Norse deities and the scientists they hang out with?’  _ What would a logo for a superhero babysitting company look like? Rose is soon lost in daydreams. 

As soon as the guy walks in the door, Rose feels like she’s in a slow-mo scene in a cheesy music video. He’s wearing black leather and looks like he could probably pick her up and throw her over his shoulder one-handed. Compact muscle. Nice legs. She’s already itching to sketch him. Would that be weird?  _ ‘Hey, what’s your order? And also, wanna come pose for me to draw? Nude, maybe? I’m a professional, I swear.’ _

That would be crazy. She sticks with the normal, customer-appropriate approach. “I’d ask your order,” she tells him, but I already see you eying our chalkboard and the star of the day, the Hearts on Fire.”

“The flames and knives are a nice touch,” Handsome Sexy Leather-Jacket Man replies, giving her artful menu another look. “Just coffee for me, though. Black.”

She sighs. “You’re missing out. Anything else - muffin?”

“No, cupcake,” he says, and she sees a little twinkle of amusement in his gorgeous blue eyes. “Sorry, I’m still working on getting my jokes up to date. No thanks on the muffin. Maybe next time.”

_ Next time? Yes, please,  _ Rose thinks, while simultaneously musing over the fact that a man just called her ‘cupcake,’ and she’s actually kinda flustered about it. “Name for the order?”

“Bucky.”

_ Bucky.  _ It clicks, then.  _ Winter Soldier.  _ His face doesn’t show up on the news often, but it has to be him. She glances down and notes the metal hand. The vague reference to getting his jokes ‘up to date’ suddenly makes a lot more sense. 

“What’s yours?” 

She glances up from his cup, which she’s decorating with a drawing of a heart - only because it’s Valentine’s Day, of course, and she’s done it for all of her other customers. Her name is printed on her apron, on an area that, unfortunately, happens to sit right atop one of her boobs. Is he trying to avoid looking at her boobs? Or to give that impression, at least? What a  _ gentleman. _

“Rose.”

“Rose is a pretty name,” he says, and then his lips thin, as if he’s disappointed in himself. “Sorry, again. I imagine you get that a lot. I’ll let you get back to work.”

“No,” she says with embarrassing haste, and when he turns back to the counter, her cheeks burn. “Um, I mean, I’m bored out of my mind.” She gestures to the dog-eared, weathered copy of  _ Wuthering Heights _ that sits on the corner of the counter. “It’s a slow day, and I don’t think it’s physically possible to fit anything else on the chalkboard, so I’m not doing much. Thanks, by the way. For liking my name.”

His lip quirks. “No problem.”

“How are you liking Florida?” Rose mentally slaps herself; she might as well have asked about the weather. “All of you guys seem to wear a lot of leather,” she adds quickly. “Seems hot.”

_ Wow. That was even worse. _ She’s usually better at this. 

He’s got maybe the prettiest eyes she’s ever seen. Blue. Piercing. She feels like he’s looking right through her. This is clearly karma; she should’ve never made fun of anyone else for getting crushes on mysterious Avengers-adjacent customers. Why hasn’t he said anything? 

“Hey,” she says, “are you sure I can’t convince you to try the Hearts on Fire? I kinda run this place, so I can slip you a freebie. The caffeine-seeking ghouls working for the Stark project are basically keeping the lights on here, anyway, so it’s only fair.”

His brows raise. “I’m a ghoul?”

“I promise that’s not what I meant, but I’m sure you’d be a good ghoul, if you wanted. You’ve got that world-weary thing. Y’know”— she points to her own eyes —“the dark circles and everything.”

“Ah.”

_ “Really _ makes your eyes pop,” she adds. “I’m sure you get that a lot, though.”

“I don’t, believe it or not.”

That smile is  _ deadly.  _ His face should be registered as a lethal weapon. Rose is on the verge of saying something stupid. Is this just one of the perks of working at Cafe Canaveral? Hot Avengers and assorted Avengers-adjacent personnel coming around to serve as eye-candy. “You should. I mean, your eyes are just…  _ Wow. _ Really nice.”

“Can I have a straw?” he asks abruptly, and when she hands him one, he pulls out a pocket-knife. Rose’s eyes widen as she watches him split the end of the paper straw. 

“What are you doing?”

“Hang on a second,” he says. “You’ll see.”

He snags a couple of the pink and red holiday napkins from the counter and folds them deftly. Rose is becoming a fan of his hands, too.  _ Would  _ it be too forward to ask if she could sketch him? Would it be too forward if she asked him on a date?

A few seconds later, Bucky presents her with a napkin-and-straw flower that is shockingly pretty, considering the haste and materials used to construct it. “A rose for Rose,” he says. “The joke’s just as terrible, but at least this time it comes with a terrible flower, too.”

She takes it from his hand. She still hasn’t made his coffee, and she should probably do that. It’s her job, after all. “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. It’s the best napkin-rose I’ve ever seen.”

“Glad you like it,” Bucky says. 

“Let me get you that coffee.”

As she’s affixing the lid to the cup, Rose notices how hyper-vigilant he is, how he’s angled himself so that his back isn’t fully towards the door. She notices, too, that he seems to be cataloguing every single person in the cafe, and she wonders if he’s actually there to keep an eye on things, considering all of the superhero-related drama they’ve had in recent months. Maybe that means she’ll be seeing more of him. Dare she hope?

“Here you go,” she says. “Headed off anywhere special for Valentine’s?”

“No. I just got into town, so I’m still getting the lay of the land. I’ll probably finish my coffee and walk around for a little while.” He takes a sip and seems a little surprised that he likes it. “You?”

“Nah. I’ll probably just work on projects tonight. Commissions.” She gestures to the various chalkboards. “I  _ art.” _

“I see that.” He takes another sip. “Look, I’m pretty sure you recognized my name, so I wouldn’t blame you at all if you said no—”

“I will absolutely give you my number,” Rose blurts out, before she can stop herself. “Crap. I hope that’s what you were going to ask.”

The corner of his lip turns up. “That would be nice, too,” he says. “I was gonna ask if you’d let me take you out to dinner tonight. A local guide.”

Rose is in heaven. Valentine’s dreams do come true. “Yeah? Full disclosure; nothing around here is particularly great.”

“That’s okay,” Bucky says, and when she reaches out to take his hand to write her number on his palm in permanent marker, he offers it willingly. “Dinner’s just an excuse to see you again, anyway.”


End file.
